In 2012, Anita Holford wrote the following blog about the creation of music education hubs in England, and how crucial head teacher support for music education is to make England’s National Music Plan work.

According to a former director of music at a south London school, the combination of sustained cuts to school budgets and a burgeoning teacher recruitment crisis threatens to be calamitous for music education.

According to a recent research report, Sistema Scotland’s social change programme in Aberdeen – Big Noise Torry – has enhanced participants’ ability to learn in school, improved academic and behavioural skills, boosted school attendance rates, and improved their emotional wellbeing.